White Picket Fences
by FangZeronos
Summary: Set after the events of ME3 where Shepard lived. (Based around my first playthrough where Traynor was my romance.) Rated T for some language


Shepard could not help the smile on her face as she watched Samantha outside in the garden. Lifting up their youngest daughter, she walked outside as Samantha stood up and turned around.

"Jane," she said, smiling. "I didn't hear you come out." She kissed her wife and smiled, tapping her daughter's nose.

"Because I'm a ninja," Shepard teased with a smile.

"Bullshit," Samantha laughed, making her daughter giggle. "I have never seen you be stealthy in six years. Not a single time during the Reapers were you ever a ninja."

"Good point," Shepard laughed. She looked behind Samantha and smiled. "You got the flowers in?"

Samantha nodded and smiled, intertwining her hand and Shepard's as she turned around and looked at the half-finished garden. "Mmmhm. Liara sent us a bundle from Thessia as well as the soil to grow them, and Garrus sent us some from Palaven. Grunt sent a box of dirt with a note saying "Flowers are ridiculous. Have some dirt anyway!" We still haven't gotten the ones from Tali yet, but they should be here in a few days," Samantha said with a smile, wrapping her arm around Shepard's waist and leaning her head against her wife's shoulder. "Oh. I also got a message from Ashley and Oriana. Ashley's going to bring her sister's favorite flowers, and Oriana's bringing a genetically modified species for us that can grow in any soil, so we can put the box of dirt from Tuchunka to use instead of it just sitting on the shelf."

Shepard smiled softly. "Alright. It'll be good to see them again," she said. She bounced her daughter lightly and gave Samantha's hand a squeeze. She looked around the small plot of land, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Hmm..."

"Oh, God. You've got that crinkled nose happening," Samantha said. "Jane? What are you thinking?"

"The fence," Shepard said. "You told me once that you wanted a white picket fence to keep your garden and your family in. Remember?"

"Oh my God. You remembered that?" Samantha asked, laughing softly. "I thought you'd have forgotten."

"Like hell I'd forget that," Shepard said with a smile. "That was something that you told me you wanted a long time ago. I just haven't been able to get to it with being the Alliance's lapdog when it comes to still cleaning up after the Reaper invasion seven years ago. I'll go and get the stuff so I can work on the fence first thing in the morning, and I'll start working on it when I get home."

"Jane, you don't have to," Samantha said with a small smile. "It doesn't have to be done right away."

"Bullshit," Shepard said. "Samantha, I told you a long time ago that I'd make sure you had your house on a hill with a white picket fence and your garden. You've got the house on the hill with your family and your very beautiful garden. All that's missing is the fence."

Samantha smiled, leaning up and kissing Shepard softly. "Thank you," she whispered. She reached over and took their daughter, kissing her cheek. "Come on, Kelly. It's time for lunch." She walked into the house, Shepard close behind. Setting Kelly in her high chair, she set off to work in the kitchen, feeling Shepard's eyes on her the entire time. "You're staring."

"Of course I am," Shepard said with a smirk. "Why shouldn't I stare at one of the most beautiful women in the Galaxy as she bends over getting in the low cabinet?"

"Dear God," Samantha giggled, shaking her head. "You could have had anyone you wanted both on the Normandy and on Earth or any of the planets we visited. Why me?"

Shepard folded her arms and looked at Samantha as she went back to work, thinking about her answer. "Because...out of everyone I've met and had a relationship with over my years in the Alliance and before, you were the one that brought out the most humanity in me, Samantha. Yes, I loved Liara and Garrus during our brief times, but Liara was there helping me with Sovereign and Saren, and Garrus was the one that I trusted most during the Collectors. You...you helped me even after the two of them found me in the wreckage of the Crucible in London. You helped me push the nightmares away, you kept me going when I wanted to give up. You brought out something in me that I thought I'd lost a long time ago after Cerberus brought me back to life. You gave me my humanity back, Sam."

Samantha smiled softly, setting a skillet on the stove before she walked around the counter and wrapped her arms around Shepard's neck, looking up at her wife before she kissed her again. "Well, I'm glad that in the grand love life of Commander Shepard, I'm the one that won her heart," she said, pulling herself closer to Shepard. "You gave me something, too, Jane."

"I did?" Shepard asked, her arms sliding around Samantha and holding her tightly. "What?"

"My dream," Samantha whispered, closing her eyes. "Two beautiful girls, a beautiful house, a beautiful view. Everything I have right now is perfect. Being with you is what makes it all perfect. Because I know that no matter what happens, you're going to be the one that makes me smile when something's wrong."

Shepard just closed her eyes and nodded, rubbing Samantha's back and feeling her shiver. She smiled and kissed Samantha's shoulder, squeezing her wife softly. "I'm glad you've got everything you want, Sam. I really am," she whispered. "I want you to keep this dream as long as you can, and I'll do everything I can to keep it perfect."

"Then don't do anything else," Samantha said, looking up at Shepard and putting her hand on her wife's cheek. "It's already perfect as it is. Don't change anything."

"I'm still making the fence how you want it," Shepard said with a smile.

"Dear God, give up the fence," Samantha laughed. "I swear, you're never going to let that go until you've got it right, are you?"

"Hell no. You wanted it a specific way, you're gonna get it the way you want," Shepard smirked. "And the only way you'll get me to leave it alone is to tie my hands where I can't pick up a hammer."

Samantha just smirked, a devilish glimmer in her eye that told Shepard she was in trouble. "Tying you up so that you can't use your hands? Well, I'll have to put my knot tying to work tonight then," she said, slinking back into the kitchen and shaking her hips just a bit more then she usually would. She grinned as she heard Shepard groan, realizing the trap she'd fallen into.

"Sounds like fun," Shepard said with a smile, sitting down at the counter and watching Samantha. "You're still getting the fence."

"Oh my God!" Samantha laughed, making Shepard laugh as well. "You're terrible."

"You love me anyway," Shepard said, crossing her arms on the counter. "You love me anyway, Samantha."


End file.
